BINGEING support group

Hi everyone.

I'm a very healthy eater from day to day. VERY healthy. And I'm quite proud of my diet and my will power. I eat whole grains, lean meats, fruits and vegetables and low fat dairy products. I also eat portions of nuts and drink lots of water.

But I have a problem. I'm in university, and tend to go out to the bars on the weekends every now and then. Now, I can deal with a night of drinking, because I can control how much I drink and I dont drink really hefty sugary drinks. My problem is my loss of will power to junk food when I drink. I eat so much... SO MUCH chocolate when I'm drunk! So much that sometimes I feel ill the next day, but of course, I get back on track and dont drop my calories the next day because I know it's unhealthy recoil.

After this rant, I propose creating this group to support and track / log how many days myself and any others interested in joining can go binge free. I still dont mind having small portions of chocolate throughout the day because they might be just 5g portions. I just want to be able to motivate myself to stay on track and not destroy my healthy diet every weekend.

So, I'm going to start out. Since I went all out last night, today is...

Days without bingeing: 1 (I know the whole day hasnt gone by, but I know I'll control it today haha)

Thanks! 

ilovechai and rampant- i hear ya on the exams, they ruin everything. but there's always loads of time for recovery afterward!

bugsylover sorry to hear you didnt make it through the month, but it was only 2 days away! 28 days is still AWESOME! Youll make it even further next time im sure!

sharon - what's this shrink yourself program? sounds interesting!

sooo im not sure how many days ive been without bingeing now, but i havent in a long time! its been over a month, i could try to do the math but im so exhausted from work now im not going to bother. I have to say im sorry i havent been on much, but evenwith school over for the summer, i have once again become swamped. but ill try to check in as much as possible!

take care!

alexw, shrink yourself is about keeping the weight off...really digging deep and finding out the WHYs for your eating agenda...WHY food is an addiction. We can all lose weight. But, can you really keep it off...when you hit that wall that triggers something, can you handle it w/o turning to old habits?

alexw, shrink yourself is about keeping the weight off...really digging deep and finding out the WHYs for your eating agenda...WHY food is an addiction. We can all lose weight. But, can you really keep it off...when you hit that wall that triggers something, can you handle it w/o turning to old habits?

Hi all, I'm looking to control my binging too. Just had the biggest one of my life. Feeling real depressed now. Gonna start tomorrow! Number of days: 0.

Wow- i have to say this is a first for me.  I've never admitted to anyone that I binge.  It's so embarrassing.  it seems that from one month to the next--sometimes from week to week-- I can lose and gain ten pounds---and it shows because I'm short.  I feel so good about myself when i lose the weight and then something triggers me and I'm off the wagon---consuming so many calories I can't even begin to imagine.  I'm so tired of this roller coaster.  Tired of feeling so bad about myself the next day and making promises to never do it again, only to do it again the next night.  I'm stuck.  I had lost 7 pounds exercising and counting calories since May 1st.  I got sick around the middle of may (a chronic illness that happens often), was put on antibiotics that make me sick unless I eat...I guess you can figure out what comes next---night after night of binging and I've gained every pound back that I worked so hard to lose and then some.  I can't figure it out---why was I able to go from staying so disciplined and not even THINK about binging for 2 weeks to thinking about nothing BUT binging for the last 2 weeks?  I'm disgusted with myself.  Thank you for providing this forum.  I hope it can help me.  This is DAY 1.

Read Jean Antonello's books.  Just google her name.  You can find used copies real cheap on Amazon.  Her books are the only things that have ever made sense to me regarding bingeing.  These books are for people who seriously want to stop bingeing.  I'm 47, so don't wait until you are as old as I am to figure it out. 

risabelle, you have mentioned Jean A's books before. I am going to check them out. I am using Shrink Yourself...not the online program, just the book. I absolutely love it. This sounds similar. Gould goes into the psychology of using food as an addiction and how to break w/that.

No more trying to loose weight for me! Since I picked up the book and read it cover to cover I am looking at food VERY differently. Enjoying it MORE and able to stop myself from overdoing. COOOOOOL!

sharonclaire, by your comment "No more trying to lose weight for me" I see you are on the RIGHT path.  This is the KEY to stopping bingeing.  One of Jean A's main themes is that UNDEREATING CAUSES OVEREATING.  When I look back at my dieting history that began when I was 16, I can see that this is so true. 

Original Post by alh7114:



On saturday I visited my parents house, where there is food EVERYWHERE.  Food I certainly do not keep at my place.  Well, long story short, I went nuts.  I ate so much I got sick to my stomach.  I kept eating and eating, even though the feeling of hunger had long passed and the feeling of sickness had taken over.  I did this all in private, when no one was around.  It is now Monday, and my stomach and digestion are still all messed up, and psychologically I am having trouble getting myself to eat.  I am so ashamed of myself.  This isnt the first time this has happened, and on average this happens to me maybe 2-3 times a month.  I think it is a sickness and I just want to get better.

That is exactly the same problem i have, i bing on the food i dont usually have at my place, i hate til i get almost sick and i do it when nobody is watching! i am ashamed too.... i got into this when i was at university in england (i m from italy)!my bf was from italy and he was the kind of guy who wants a "fit" girl as a gf! i always felt uncomfortable with him and my image when i was with him...i always tried to look my best! at university i went to the gym twice a day everyday! thats how i got obsessed!i just wish i could go back to normal!

...but i feel better now that i found this post...i realise i am not the only one out there!

 

days without bingeing:8

good luck to us, risabelle! I do feel very good about food at the moment...like I've had some kind of breakthrough. so glad there is someone out there I can connect w/on this!!!

Hi -

first day on this website.  I kicked a cocaine habit about a year ago, my best friend died after hanging out with me all night long.  I was so depressed, and in my grief food became my new drug.  I ate constantly, especially after having a few drinks, until the point I could physically hold no more food.  I realized that I had an addiction to food a few months ago, and now I am doing something about it.

I'm quitting drinking, I usually only have a few beers when I go out, but I lose all control when I come home.  Being a former drug addict, you become aware of addictive behavior: placing yourself in a position to return to your old habits.

Like any other drug, you try and tell yourself that you can quit at any time, that you need to slowly ween yourself off of it...but you are only fooling yourself.  The only way to quit any drug is to walk away from it, and never come back to it - no matter how hard the temptation is, no matter  the voice in your head that says "just one more time and I'll quit for good".

I've gone cold turkey, and the withdrawals are killing me.  I feel like I'm going mad with hunger, but I know it's all in my head.  Like any other addiction, those feelings will fade in time - but will always be there to overcome me should I give in.  If anybody wants to talk, or exchange messages, or needs words of encouragement (because I know I will), please reach out.  It's always good to know you're not alone.

Days without bingeing: 3 (and counting)

Good luck with that lilmikeyk! Have you considered getting the help from someone else with overcoming your addiction? I've been to a counsellor for my binge eating among certain things and it's really helped me understand the issues behind why I do it.

Meh. I have a new job at the moment which involves working from 7:30PM til normally about 5:30AM, and there's a vending machine in the office which sells Bounty bars.

I. Love. Bounties.

I had six, plus a donught and a cookie, in one night. Argh! I managed to go a whole night last night without any junk, and I think I've done pretty well so far eating wise. Going to take some satsumas and grapes to work tonight just in case I desperately need to snack. Wish me luck :/

lilmikeyk you are clearly a very strong person and i really believe you can beat this. best of luck. glad to hear everyone is doing well mostly :) im on day 7ish (trying not to count too rigidly because it makes me obsess about it!!) but i feel ok. im annoyed that i messed up after 28 days last time but im trying to beat my record this time :D ive been spending most of my days running around london grabbing food on the go which isn't great because the train stations just shove cookies and muffins and such in my face, but so far ive been good.

hope everyones well XXX

Thanks guys.

I've never seeked professional help (at least for the bingeing thing), I don't think I'm at a point where I need to yet.  It all depends on how well I can handle this by myself, I suppose.  Since I am just now starting to deal with it, I'm really not sure what I'm up against - I can only draw on previous experiences with addiction.  Although I've never been in a program, the "7 steps" do seem to work when all else seems to be failing.

As far as the Bounty bars - we don't have those in the States, but I had a couple last time I was in GB - damn they're good.  Like everything else that's tempting, you have to look at it and say "I want you, but I don't need you".

I was tempted last night when I came home from a friend's house (didn't drink either), it makes it even worse that I have to walk through my kitchen when I come home!  I didn't cave - I ate a banana, and of course wanted to empty kitchen of everything else edible, but I stopped myself.

The 1000 mile journey begins with one step.

Days without bingeing - 4

I am on somewhere @ day 12 w/o a binge and doing this effortlessly thanks to the understandings I acquired in Shrink Yourself. I am sure that this book, along w/all the physical activity I am getting is responsible for my weight loss...4# in 2 weeks! I have never lost weight like this before. I always plan to eat @ 2000 calories/day but somehow end up w/more...basically a healthy diet but I still am working on eating more slowly and not taking one more slice of pizza (or anything) when I get tired later in the evening. (I'll have to start doing what lilmikeyk does and start reaching for a banana!) But, even when tired...the binge has disappeared for the moment. And I mean disappeared effortlessly.

I think that cutting out the bingeing 2x/week is responsible for a big chunk of my weight loss.

This book rocks!!! It's the coolest thing to find the right tools for the job!!! Good luck all!

risabelle: special greetings to you and Jean Antonello! I feel as if you and I are partners in crime a little bit because we appear to be really invested in looking at the root causes of our bingeing. And CCers don't really encourage that. It ain't easy, is it?

I am on day 15 and I have to say it's pretty effortless thanks to this marvelous book I picked up, Shrink Yourself. I have lost 5# because I am big on exercise...Curves, cycling, hiking. Last night we had friends over for a campfire and smores and I had one and a bite of chocolate. I know the rest of the chocolate/smores/crax are sitting in my kitchen and they will until the next campfire.

There are benefits to knowing WHY we binge (Dr. Gould, SY, calls it emotional eating). Food became my reason for avoiding social events, doing more productive things w/my time, looking at myself honestly and fairly, liking myself and the world.

There is an online version to this book. These people don't claim that you will lose weight effortlessly, or at all. I think I had already done so much work on WHY that I was ready for this. BUT, they do tell you that you will look at food differently...your relationship will change.

I keep bringing this book up because I was going through what all of you went through and now I am not. It was agonizing for me, too. I went through my days defeated, frustrated. It took so much energy. In this past week alone I have socialized more than I have in the whole year...ME looking for my friends in order to just hang. My anxiety has dropped immeasurably.  

I am not a fad dieter. NEVER tried a fad diet. I am not a yoyo dieter. I joined CC a year ago and lost 15# and then stalled my weight loss because it didn't make sense to lose if I had a 95% chance of gaining it back. As risabelle says, Jean Antonello works for her. The solutions are out there, people. Some people can do it on their own. You don't have to continue living in agony.

I just wish you all the best. I am finally enjoying my life and not obsessed about food...eating a healthy balanced diet and not spending time counting calories, either! CC has a lot to offer but it does not adequately address the issues we talk about on this chat, thanks to alexw!  

Hi all,

 

I would like to join your binging support group. I am an official "binger" and right now feel so horrible about myself after binging this past weekend. Today i will try to make it "Day 1"... i just ordered myself a book from amazon by Christopher Fairburn on binge eating, hopefully it will help somewhat! (any other book suggestions appreciated!)

i just want to try and get out of this vicious cycle and stop feeling so horrible about myself!

jenny, let us know how Fairburn works for you. I used Shrink Yourself, the book, for a weekend and love it and live by it and have lost 5# in 2 weeks and haven't had an 'emotional eating' episode in 15 days (per this author it is an eee not a binge) and risabelle recommends Jean Antonello.

Jenny, (and anyone else who is curious) you can google Naturally-Thin (with the hyphen) to read about Jean Antonello's program and her books.  It is really for people who are at their dieting/bingeing wit's end, like I was.  So if you want to stop, or figure out why you binge--look into this program, it can only help you. 

Risabelle: Hi! I just read through Jean Antonello's free chapters online. I have to laugh because she is physiologically based and the Shrink Yourself program I love is psychologically based and she actually knocks that kind of approach.

Anyway, risabelle, from what I can gather from JA's books, a reduced calorie diet is the root of the problem, is this correct? That is essentially the root of SY, too. Calorie counting (for reduction of calories) is anti-healthy. I eat around 2000 calories/day. I exercise a lot...using my bike for commuting to work now and have joined Curves. I am definitely losing size and in the second two weeks I lost 5# and appear to be taking more off. But, the big thing is that I am just not obsessed w/food anymore. I am eating well and able to stop myself from the binge...effortlessly and this is day 17.

I know I've said all this before, so forgive me for getting redundant but I am still trying to adjust to this new mindset. No pills, no gimmicks just a new understanding.

So, please, risabelle, feel free to share anything re:JA's books/how you have benefitted. So glad you've benefitted from JA!